Rotary advertising display



Feb. 15, 1966 J. o. SIMONEAU 3,234,674

ROTARY ADVERTISING DISPLAY Filed Feb. 24. 1964 //v VE/V TOR Joseph Ovi/a SIMONE/4U AGENT United States Patent "ice 3,234,674 ROTARY ADVERTISING DISPLAY Joseph Ovila Simoneau, Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Simoneau Enseigne Mobile Ltee, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Filed Feb. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 346,847

Claims priority, application Canada, Sept. 17, 1963,

884,756 Claims. (Cl. 4076) The present invention relates to a mobile display and, more particularly, to a rotary display for advertising purposes.

The main object of the present invention resides in the provision of a display including mobile elements, each representing one of the products to be advertised and which makes a rotating movement about a vertical axis and synchronized in such a manner that the various elements mesh one with the other to thereby create a novel and attention-compelling effect on the prospective customers.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a display system of the character described, which is more particularly adapted to be mounted on the roof or front of a restaurant or other commercial establishment, the mechanism for driving the rotatable elements being designed to take a minimum of room and being disposed in the interior of a weather-proof housing.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a display system of the character described, in which the movable elements may be easily disassembled and replaced without having to modify or gain access to the driving mechanism.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a display system of the character described, which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction.

The foregoing and other important objects of the pressent invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the display device in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a broken away longitudinal section of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a partial section taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view on a much reduced scale, similar to FIGURE 1 and showing the movement of the display elements.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the display device in accordance with the invention comprises an elongated housing or box 1, of generally rectangular shape and comprising a top 2, end walls 3, and longitudinal walls 4, all of said walls being supported by a frame 5 made of angle irons.

A plurality of equally-spaced shafts 6 are vertically mounted within housing 1 and extend through top 2. The lower end of each shaft 6 is supported by a thrust bearing 7, secured to a transverse bar 8 at the level of the bottom of the housing 1.

Shafts 6 pass through and are maintained in vertical position by bearings 9 disposed just underneath top 2 and secured in position by brackets 10, themselves fixed to frame 5. A flange disc 11 is secured to the top end of each shaft 6 and is removably secured by means of bolts or the like (not shown) to a flange disc 12 secured to the lower end of a rod 13, which is thus maintained in axial alignment with shaft 6, which supports said rod 13. Rod 13 extends inside a hollow advertising element 14, the opposite main walls 15 of which bear a drawing or de- 3,234,674 Patented Feb. 15, 1966 sign representing the product to be advertised and displayed.

The walls 15 are generally flat and parallel, but are cut out in accordance with any desired contour to represent the shape of the product to be advertised. Rod 13, which passes inside the advertising element 14, protrudes from both ends thereof and is provided with a flange disc 12 at both ends.

A series of advertising elements 14 are thus provided with a rod 13 and flanges 12 whereby two or more advertising elements can be superposed in end-to-end relationship by means of rods 13 and abutting flanges 12, the rods 13 being thus aligned with supporting shaft 6.

As there are at least three shafts 6, and often more than this number, it is possbile to vary at will the combination of the various advertising display elements 14. For example, a shaft 6 may support only one advertising element, while the remaining shafts will support two or several superposed advertising elements in accordance with the advertising effect desired.

Shafts 6 and advertising elements 14 supported thereby are angularly disposed in such a manner that the advertising elements on adjacent shafts 6 will make a right angle with respect to one another when seen in top plan view, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4.

Moreover, the sides of the advertising elementswhen seen in top plan vieware disposed very near the main faces 15 of the adjacent advertising elements; in other words, the distance separating shafts 6 is much less than the maximum width of the advertising elements 14.

It is therefore necessary for shaft 6 to turn in synchronism and in the same direction of rotation. In this manner, an effect similar to meshing gear wheels is obtained, the advertising elements meshing with each other during rotation but without ever touching, as seen in FIG- URE 4.

It is therefore necessary for shaft 6 to be driven in rotation in accordance with a non-varying angular relation; otherwise, advertising elements 14 might hit one another, resulting in their breakage.

The driving mechanism for shafts 6 comprises an electric motor 16 mounted on a plate 17 secured to frame 5 at the bottom of housing 1 and which drives, by means of a belt 18, a pulley 19 secured to the input shaft of a speed-reducing unit 20, itself mounted on plate 17.

The output shaft 21 of speed-reducing unit 20 is provided with a sprocket wheel 22, which is connected to a sprocket wheel 23 by means of a sprocket chain 24. Sprocket wheel 23 is secured to the shaft 6 nearest to reducing unit 20.

In the same manner, all the shafts 6 are successively connected to one another and to the last-mentioned shaft 6 provided with sprocket wheel 23 and are driven in rotation one by the other in the same direction of rotation by means of chain drives consisting of sprocket wheels 26, secured to the respective shafts 6, and of sprocket chains 25 trained on sprocket wheels 26.

Each sprocket chain 25 is preferably provided with a chain tensioning device consisting of an idle leaf 28 extending alongside the respective sprocket chain 25 and secured at its other end to a bar 29, itself secured to frame 5 of housing 1. Obviously, all the sprocket wheels 26 are of equal diameters. The driving mechanism for shafts 6, which consists of chain drives, enables to obtain a perfect synchronism in the rotation of the shafts and in the rotation of the advertising elements 14 in the same direction of rotation, and therefore there is no angular variation between the various advertising elements 14 and the latter remain constantly at substantially with respect to one another.

against weather by housing 1.

The display system in accordance with the invention can be installed at any desired height on a store front or on the top of a restaurant, or other commercial establishment; and the advertising elements 14 are designed to represent the products sold by this establishment.

As noted above, it is very easy to change the different advertising elements and to vary their respective position in the assembly of said elements.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary advertising display comprising an elongated housing having a top, a series of shafts rotatably mounted within said housing, said shafts being substantially equally spaced and protruding outwardly of said housing through said top, driving means for said shafts disposed within said housing for driving said shafts in the same direction of rotation and at equal speed, and a series of advertising display elements, of generally fiat shape, and rigidly secured to the outer end of said shafts and in alignment with the latter, an advertising element secured to one shaft being substantially at right angles to the advertising elements secured to the adjacent shafts, when seen in top plan view, the width of said advertising elements being greater than the distance between said adjacent shafts, whereby said advertising elements, upon rotation, mesh with each other but without touching.

2. Advertising display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said advertising elements are removably secured to said shafts and at least some of said shafts support a plurality of superposed advertising elements.

3. A rotary advertising display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said advertising elements are hollow and provided with a rod extending within the same and protruding from both ends thereof, flange discs secured to the ends of said rod, an additional flange disc secured to the outer end of each shaft and adapted to be removably secured to a flange disc of a rod of an advertising element, the other flange disc of said same rod capable of being in turn removably secured to the flange disc of the rod of another superposed advertising element.

4. A rotary advertising display as claimed in claim 1, wherein said driving means include an electric motor and a speed-reducing unit driven by said electric motor and having an output shaft parallel to said shafts, a chain drive connecting said output shaft to that one of said shafts nearest to said speed-reducing unit and additional chain drives, including sprocket wheels and sprocket chains, connecting all of said shafts in succession.

5. A rotary advertising display as claimed in claim 4, further including sprocket chain tensioning devices associated with each of the sprocket chains connecting said shafts one to the other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,671,126 5/1928 Reeder -76 2,116,12'7 5/1938 Steiert 40-33 2,209,858 7/ 1940 Steiert 4033 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,043,818 6/1953 France.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. WILLIAM H. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A ROTARY ADVERTISING DISPLAY COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HOUSING HAVING A TOP, A SERIES OF SHAFTS ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING, SAID SHAFTS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALLY SPACED AND PROTUDING OUTWARDLY OF SAID HOUSING THROUGH SAID TOP, DRIVING MEANS FOR SAID SHAFTS DISPOSED WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR DRIVING SAID SHAFTS IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF ROTATION AND AT EQUAL SPEED, AND A SERIES OF ADVERTISING DISPLAY ELEMENTS, OF GENERALLY FLAT SHAPE, AND RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID SHAFTS AND IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE LATTER, AND ADVERTISING ELEMENT SECURED TO ONE SHAFT BEING SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE ADVERTISING ELEMENTS SECURED TO THE ADJACENT SHAFTS, WHEN SEEN IN TOP PLAN VIEW, THE WIDTH OF SAID ADVERTISING ELEMENTS BEING GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID ADJACENT SHAFTS, WHEREBY SAID ADVERTISING ELEMENTS, UPON ROTATION, MESH WITH EACH OTHER BUT WITHOUT TOUCHING. 